Miss Frou Frou has entered the building...

Well, I'm back... not sure for how long... but am here anyway...

To any of you still checking in occasionally I have no excuses for not posting very regularly apart from the fact that I haven't felt the need to say much of anything.

What's been happening?

Working for the man... Well - I had a job interview early December, that didn't pan out - which is probably not a bad thing... but it's left me in a bit of a quandary - I feel restless and unhappy about some elements of my work, and there are lots of opportunities out there at present, BUT I love the team of people I work with and while there are days when I could cheerfully throttle others around the place, the team make it all bearable. I know I could go somewhere else, possibly earn more dollars, and also find a role that would reduce some of the stress I'm currently under...

But I'm wondering what is important... the fact that I've found a little niche for myself, working with a group of people I love and respect, who appear to love and respect me (on my good days) and tolerate my eccentricities and histrionics (on my bad days). Or the need to have a job that fulfills me in a way that my present one doesn't completely... and run the risk of finding the job, but not enjoying the people quite so much... (sounds a bit like my eternal quandary about men!)

God bless rest you merry gentlemen women...
I had a quiet, contemplative Christmas/ New Year that has rolled on into most of January. Lots of reading (2 to 3 books a week), watching TV (catching up on shows from 2006/2007), sleeping and even some quilty things...

Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home... it looks likely that I will need to find a new home sometime this year, as my landlords have decided against offering me a new lease, as they are thinking of selling. I got very, very depressed at this... this is my 4th year here, and it is very much my home. Initially decided if I have to leave, then I want to do it on my terms, and got even more depressed looking at what passes for decent, affordable housing around here. But discussing this with friends have decided to just wait and see what happens.

The Queen of stuff... Have spent the weekend sorting through my 1930s reproduction fabrics partly because I was inspired by stumbling across this post on the Happy Zombie - hooley dooley I'd love me a stash like that says I... then realised I've probably got close to a stash like that already! Have well over 200 different 1930s reproduction fabrics -let alone all the other fabric I've accumulated.

Now, considering Ms.J. has twisted my arm painfully (yeah right) to go along to a Dear Jane workshop and maybe start one of these suckers, I figured using 1930s fabrics might be the go, if I had enough of them (ha,ha, ha...).

But seriously, my fabric obsession seems ever so slightly out of control... I don't even know what I've got anymore... so, progressively working my way through and sorting and folding seems like a good idea... and maybe culling?

moar funny pictures
Am also doing the same with my book collection... with 7 full height bookshelves groaning under the weight of books, I'm going through and being ruthless... have I read it? Yes. Do I want to read it again? Yes - then keep, if no - dispose. If I haven't read it yet do I want to? No - then discard!

If I am going to have a move, then I need to get organised so that I'm not taking anything with me, that I don't want or need. I've still got boxes from the move 4 years ago, that haven't been unpacked!

A room of her own... Well, I've got a whole house, but have also got organised and bought myself a decent desk, chair and a new monitor and keyboard. I am currently churning out a suite of policies and procedures for work. Churning being the operative word... have been more productive this month in this area than I had been all year - I think primarily as I've been set up with remote access at home, and encourage to spend a day a week at home working, which is blissful without the everyday distractions of people popping in and phone calls.

I've discovered I can be quite disciplined with this working from home thing... hoping that when the current mad spurt of work is over I can roll that over into being disciplined to do some creative writing of my own.

The writing of anything for pleasure has gone by the wayside at present, too much professional writing happening to even get into the right headspace... another reason why I've not been posting much.

And so it goes... as for personal stuff... I'm good. Nothing momentous happening, just enjoying myself, probably being a bit more solitary than I normally would be at this time of year, but not unhappily so... though I'm busy organising a sort of birthday bash for mid-March which looks like being fun - dinner and dancing with some mates, and generally making mayhem!

Oh well.... need to get back to fabric folding... catch you later...

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy....

Two of my favourite people are having birthdays today... so this is just a blogosphere shout out to both of them!

Moon Girl - she of the wicked sense of humour, shopping centre pimpage and the healthy and nutritious lunches, I luvs ya ...

But if you bring pom poms to the choir concert I'm going to squash you like a bug next time I see you... Happy Birthday....

And it's also the Nature Boy's big day... he of the un-Leo like persona, great food recommendations, snarky elitism and general weirdness normalcy.

I keep telling him if I ever get anything published I'm going to acknowledge him in the dedication pages... this will have to do for now!

Birthdays Rock.... now where's the bloody cake!

Birthday Meme... tagged by Chicken Scratch

I got tagged by Xine the other day, just haven't had a chance to play yet!

Here are the rules: You go to http://www.wikipedia.org/ and type in your birthday (only month & day). Then you write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and then you tag 5 friends.

Me, being the wild and crazy non-conformist I am - have added some comments of my own!

MARCH 10

EVENTS:

1. 1831: The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Phillippe to support his war in Algeria. Oh.. I love a man in uniform... Beau Geste, anyone?

2. 1876: Alexander Graham Bell makes the first telephone call by saying "Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you" Had to pick this one... considering what a phone girl I am... Call me, Call me, now....

3. 1982: Syzygy: all 9 planets align on the same side of the Sun. How cool would this be? Will need to check out the astrological ramifications of something like this... this was the year I turned 21, and on arriving home for a quiet birthday dinner was told my 30 year old cousin had died of a heart attack.




BIRTHS:

1. 1903 - Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke - jazz musician

2. 1958 - Sharon Stone - actress. When I once announced at bowling that Sharon Stone and I shared a birthday, my nephew, 14 at the time, announced sotto voce, "I know whose birthday party I'd rather be going to"... which had the group laughing out loud, and Boomerang Boy telling the brat to run for his life before I caught him...

HOLIDAY:

1. Doctor's Day - Venzuela Couldn't find much information on Doctor's Day. Here in Victoria, every couple of years, the Labour Day holiday is celebrated on March 10, and that long weekend was also the Moomba festival - home of the great Birdman Rally. As a child I used to think the festival was all for my benefit. What was believed to be an aboriginal word for 'lets get together and have fun' it has since been discovered that Moomba is vernicular for 'up your bum'

Tagging:

1. Sheila - Aubirdwoman
2. The Cats Mum
3. Starrlight
4. Gabriella
5. Dr. Bill

Happy Birthday to you...

Spell with Flickr http://metaatem.net/words/

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday ... Hope you have a great time on Saturday night
- and I expect you to look something like this on Sunday morning!

Tattoo you... well tattoo me actually....

I've always been fascinated by tattoos ... used to stare at my cousin's beefeater arms with their semi-naked ladies when I was child. Didn't like them, but was fascinated. A boy I had a crush on years ago had a bluebird tattooed above his heart... I liked that one... well, I liked the boy and the chest that it was on.

And when the celtic/ tribal tattoos took off, I really liked those. I like to know why people have them, and I can admire the skill of the artist often, even if I couldn't imagine having that inked on to my skin. So, I flirted with the idea of getting a tattoo for years, and the year I was turning 38 decided to do it while in Sydney for the Mardi Gras with a friend.

I wasn't sure what I wanted ... thought about my astrological sign, Pisces and also thought about a moon of some sort... as I have a strong affinity to the moon, always have had....##

I also love butterflies... for some people they represent the futility of life, once a butterfly emerges from the chrysalis they only live for 4 to 10 days... but for me they represent transformation and change, I had changed... and wanted something to reflect that change. So, I picked a butterfly...a small butterfly tattooed on my hip... so small in fact, that if I don't wear my glasses it looks like a multicoloured bruise.

Angus the Folly (also known as Boomerang Boy) was horrified when I told him that I wanted to get one. I hate tattoos, says he. So what, says I, I like them. He didn't believe I'd do it, actually I wasn't so sure myself... When I got back from Sydney, very proud of my little butterfly I had this conversation with him over the phone:

BB: Did you do it? Did you get one?

MFF: Yeah, I did.

BB: What did you get?

MFF: I got our initials tattooed inside a heart on my right boob

BB: What!!!! Are you for real?

MFF: No, stupid... as if I would...

BB: Well, what then?

MFF: You know that Where's Wally game?

BB: Yes, I love that game...

MFF: Well, we could play our own private version of Where's Wally...

BB: What!!!! Seriously?

MFF: How about you find out for yourself next time I see you...

He never did get to see it, as he boomeranged out of my life again quite dramatically not long after...

People's reactions to the fact that I have one is always fascinating.### Lots of disapproval, lots of how could you be so stupid etc. Particularly from men around my age or older... I kind of liked the idea of turning people's perceptions of me on their head a little, this was such a personal thing, a declaration that my body was mine, to do with what I will....

I always intended to have another done... I truly loved the experience, love the memory of that time, and how I felt... and thought about adding to the butterfly collection... to end up with a scattering of butterflies all over my body... still kind of like that idea...and as my birthday approached this year, thought about it again.

The universe is sending me strong messages about this tattoo thing... NPNP and I discussed finding a tattooist a few weeks ago. I thought again about my zodiac sign, and also about a tree of some sort, as I seem to be dreaming and meditating a lot about trees lately. Or the chinese symbols for wisdom and hope... though have heard a story about someone having the chinese symbol for tattoo tattooed on them... which is funny...

And then one of the blogs I've started to read had a link to an old post tattoos being sexy, and talked about how you need to find a tattoo that represents who you are...so, I started to ponder a bit... who am I now?

One of the bloggers who commented on the post above talked about having the word 'yes' tattooed on the back of her waist, and I thought about what word would best describe me... and immediately thought the word that best describes me is ...why... and then thought again of a guy I dated briefly suggesting I should have a giant ? placed on my tombstone to indicate what an enigma I was... so started thinking about a series of small question marks. Actually have seen a yin/yang symbol that has 2 question marks inside it, that looks pretty cool too...

And then today at work, in having a discussion about the appropriateness of footwear worn on casual days (barefoot or rubber thongs) I looked down at a colleague's foot and noticed a gorgeous tattoo ... a spiral inside a scroll along the edge of her foot, trailing down from her little toe. I commented on her 'great tatt' and she said thanks and we then had a chat and I discovered that her brother is a tattooist, working locally. She's going to give me his name and let him know I'm going to ring, as he only does work by referral.

So, it looks like the universe is sending me the opportunity to do this... I just need to decide on the what, where and when.####

## and to anyone who wants to make a cheap crack about my affinity with the moon and my odd moments of lunacy I say pfft....

### At my birthday party that year, I happily showed off my butterfly, until my boss, licked his thumb and rubbed his hand over it - not believing it was real. Forget how weird it was to have my very hunky boss rub spit on me, to say his wife (who was standing beside him at the time) was unimpressed was an understatement

#### Where? - I'm pretty sure I want something on my shoulder... not hidden exactly, but not obvious. When? - soon I hope. What? - still don't know... any suggestions?

Birthday +'s and -'s

I still haven't written about my birthday weekend!

Probably cause I've got mixed feelings about it... I had a lovely weekend, much better and busier than I had planned or expected it to be... but at the same time a sense of melancholy running through it... while I wouldn't have changed any of it, there's a part of me that wonders if I might not have been better off spending the weekend at home in my pj's like I had originally planned...

Turning 46 seems incredible really... it was only yesterday that I was that girl in the photo on the left... can remember the day it was taken at kindergarten. Apparently I followed the photographer around all day, and posed for him every time he turned around. When the proofs came back, there were 3 photos of me for every 1 of everyone else. Gee... it's a bit different now... I can't stand having my photo taken...

Positive things about my birthday:

Catch up with friends for Choir of Hard Knocks gala concert and decision to join the Melbourne Millennium Chorus - and finally get the chance to sing, loudly... in public...

Mad Splurge of retail therapy - buying tops, and shoes, and red lipstick and 3 new pair of pj's - considering how much time I've been spending in my pj's, they were the most exciting purchase...

Being serenaded with Happy Birthday's over the phone from not only FBG and Miss La De Da but also from Peter Rabbit... which was a delightful surprise, as he admits to not remembering birthdays and hating singing...

Tarot Reading - which was interesting, telling me about the year ahead... which will be one of extremes by the sound of it... lots of good things and more likely followed by lots of not so good things... though she said that's probably been happening for awhile and I agreed... the Moon is the prevailing influence, which means I'm going to wax and wane a bit... and probably continue to vacillate between mad outbursts of activity and almost total seclusion... though she said there are boys coming... not 1, not 2, but 3 of them...

Lunch with FBG and her Fish-a-man on Sunday... and had a lovely time catching up... she looks so much happier than she was this time last year... though my missing the turn-off had me almost to Philip Island...and then dinner and a catch up with Miss La De Da and her man...and a lazy day of chatting with NPNP over mediocre fish 'n chips but excellent chocolate...

Angus the Folly did not send me a Happy Birthday message... which means I think that chapter is well and truly over...

Being OK about that chapter being well and truly over...

Negative things about my birthday:

Sister's phone call to ask if I was doing anything for my birthday, cause if I wasn't she wouldn't need to buy me a present! She then kindly offered to come over for coffee if I'd like to buy a cake and I very kindly declined her offer...

Upsetting my Mum, with my moods and 'hermit' behaviour, who mailed by birthday card to me (she lives 5 minutes away) and then left a 'as I don't know when I'll see you next I'm just ringing to wish you a Happy Birthday" message on my machine. I didn't know this, when I rang her to say, could I call in the following afternoon. And when I asked would she like me to bring some afternoon tea (something I normally do, if I call in on Saturday afternoons) she said, not particularly, unless you want to. I decided not to buy anything...

Fish-a-man's friend that I got dressed up for on the off chance that he might be there, as he'd an expressed an interest in meeting me, did not show...

Tarot Teacher could not provide any more detail other than the following about the not 1, not 2 but 3 boys who might be coming... one is a Fire sign (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) and will require me to have the Patience of Job if I want the relationship to progress - apparently I can't push the river@@... one is an Air sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and will be a meeting of the minds, he will encourage me in some endeavour, possibly a new job... the other is an Earth sign (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and she was vague but said I should pay attention ##

My pledge to have lots of sex with a man I like a lot before my 46th birthday went unfulfilled... probably cause I can't remember the last time I met a man I liked a lot enough to want to have sex with him...

The realisation that at 46 it's now unlikely, if not impossible, that I will ever have a child of my own... probably cause I can't remember the last time I met a man I liked a lot enough to want to have sex with him...


## If you're a Water sign (Pisces, Scorpio Cancer) - bad luck! And bad luck to me, by her reckoning I should be paying attention to 9/12ths of the male population...

@@ Not pushing the river, may very well mean I won't have lots of sex with a man I like a lot until I'm 50